


fash·ion

by brookwrites



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: AU, M/M, Oneshot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-06-29 09:26:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15726612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brookwrites/pseuds/brookwrites
Summary: nouna popular trend, especially in styles of dress and ornament or manners of behavior.Dan works at an upscale clothing store, and it’s the most abysmal environment he could have possibly gotten himself into. He sells oversized, overpriced clothes to old men trying to be cool and has the concept of “fashion” shoved down his throat on the daily. His job is stormy at best, until a ray of sunshine walks into the store named Phil.





	fash·ion

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the @phanfichallenge on Tumblr!

Fashion. The word surrounded Dan everywhere he went. He personally fulfilled the expectations society had for “fashion”, but that was his own decision. It just so happened that the current trend was baggy clothes and curly hair. He wasn’t following the trends: the trends were following him. This made it easy enough for him to get a job at one of the most fashionable stores in the country: Men’s Best. 

The store he worked at was so ridiculously overpriced that it disgusted him, but it was a paycheck, and one hell of a large one at that. Every time some stuck up old man walked into the store, he had to escort them to the back of the store where the old time suits were found. That was all about half his customers ever wanted: a fashionable suit. Only the back quarter of the store even dealt with dress clothes, but for some reason it was all anyone came to buy. 

The entire front portion of the store was more his style: oversized clothes designed for people more around his age. Of course, nobody ever came in to buy them, because millennials didn’t have the money to get expensive clothes just because they were “fashionable”. Dan would never say it, but they were somehow more overpriced than they were oversized. He honestly didn’t understand why people couldn’t go to a normal store and just buy a size up. Really, most did, but a few rich kids trickled in to stay with the trends. 

You might think that for someone who hates Men’s Best so much, it was quite odd for him to be working there. You’re definitely right. He’d been working that same dismal job for two years, and he didn’t want to be there; he just got it because he needed money for university. He’d since completed his schooling, but, like most other people his age, was still in massive debt, and he needed money. His current job was definitely the best money he’d be able to get for a while, and he wouldn’t stand a chance without it. So he stayed with the very culture he despised. 

Fashion. There was an aesthetic sign on the far wall that simply said “fashion”. The messy cursive font was lit up by white light, and it was both Dan’s favorite and least favorite part of the store. It was, in all honesty, extremely aesthetic, but he couldn’t stand the word. Fashion. He had Googled it once; the official definition was, “a popular trend, especially in styles of dress and ornament or manners of behavior.” Sometimes he thought about that definition. It made it sound like fashion was only what society said looked good. That wasn’t what fashion meant, at least not to him. 

To Dan, fashion was the phrase “sense of fashion”. He had his sense of fashion, and other people had theirs. It wasn’t just society; it was personal preference, and he was sick of seeing it portrayed otherwise. Then again, he worked in the belly of the beast. There really wasn’t a point in hating fashion when he hypocritically worked in the middle of the fashion industry.

Dan was standing at his station behind the cash register on his phone. There was nobody in the store that day that could possibly get him in any trouble for it, so he honestly didn’t care enough not to be on his phone. There wasn’t a soul in the store anyway. Mall music haunted him to his very being, and the sound of passing footsteps was engraved into his memory. Suddenly he heard footsteps drawing closer, and he glanced up from his phone to see a man walking in the door. He sighed, putting his phone down on the counter and putting on his fake smile. “Welcome to Men’s Best. If you need anything, feel free to let me know.” 

“Thanks,” the man muttered. Dan took a moment just to look at him; he looked around his age, which was surprising in and of itself. He was wearing a quirky, blue button up covered in corgis and black skinny jeans. He had the same black, emo fringe he would have been willing to bet he had ten years ago, but his eyes were full of color and did perfectly to stand out against the rest of his dark figure. Everything about him contrasted; the fun shirt to the dark jeans, the dark hair to the bright eyes. It intrigued Dan in a way he wasn’t used to; he definitely had never seen anyone like him in the store before. 

Dan couldn’t help but wonder what he was doing there. The store wasn’t at all his style. In fact, Dan liked his style a lot more than he liked the store’s. It was personalized, and, in reality, quite cute. He’d never met the man before, but he could tell it was really him. He didn’t need to be in that hell store of peer pressure by invisible fashionistas. 

After a couple minutes of roaming, the man sighed and walked up to Dan, who, surprisingly, still hadn’t buried himself back in his phone. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“By that do you mean you want help looking or you don’t know why you’re here?” 

“Both, really,” the man said, cracking a smile. “Phil.” 

“Dan.” They shook hands, and Dan put on his professional smile, except for once he didn’t have to fake it. “How can I help you today?” 

“This is gonna sound really stuck-up, but I’m only here because of my viewers.” Dan raised an eyebrow, and he rushed into the next sentence. “I’m a YouTuber, and I keep seeing these comments saying I’m not ‘fashionable’ enough.” He threw in the air quotes, and Dan rolled his eyes. The two seemed to see eye to eye on the concept of fashion. “So I came here to see if I could find some more ‘fashionable’ clothes. I’m striking out here.” 

“Really? What’s your channel?” 

He smiled a bit at the fact that Dan wanted to know. “AmazingPhil.” Dan secretly and expertly snuck his phone out of his pocket and looked him up on YouTube as they continued to talk. 

“Well, if you really want me to find you something here that seems more you, I can help you, but I don’t think that’s what you want.” 

Phil sighed. “It really isn’t.” 

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Dan looked into those colorful eyes and finally spoke his mind. “You know, fashion isn’t just what other people tell you it is.” Phil raised an eyebrow. “Fashion isn’t what other people tell you, it’s what you believe. You have your own sense of fashion, and if you like it, then it’s good enough. Personally, I love your sense of fashion.” 

“You do?” he asked, his face conveying the emotion of a lost puppy being found.

“Absolutely,” Dan answered, grinning from ear to ear. 

“Thanks, Dan,” he said. “Maybe I can remember that to gain some more confidence.” 

“Anytime.” 

“Well,” he said, standing there awkwardly. “I guess I’ll see you around.” 

Dan smirked, putting one hand to his forehead and pulling it out as an odd wave that could only be understood in person. “See ya.” 

Phil turned on his heel and began to slowly leave the store, but just as he was about to reach the shoplifting detectors, he turned back. “Can I give you my phone number?” 

Something stirred inside of Dan that he didn’t know how to describe, but it was a better feeling than he’d ever experienced inside that hell of a store. “Yeah, sure,” he said, trying not to sound too excited. He glanced around his desk until he found a pad of sticky notes and a pen; he grabbed them both and put them on the counter, managing to drop the pen towards Phil. “Sh-Fu-Ugh.” Dan quickly refrained from swearing as the typical old man walked into the store. “Sorry.” 

“It’s okay,” Phil laughed, picking up the pen and writing down his number, sliding the sticky notes across the counter to Dan. “There you go; shoot me a text sometime.” 

“Will do,” he said, a genuine smile crossing his face as Phil left the store. He glanced at his phone, still open to Phil’s YouTube channel. His mouth fell open; Phil had 4.2 million subscribers. Dan would definitely be texting that number when he got off work. He quickly pocketed his phone and smiled up at the customer. The smile, and even his tone of voice were genuine. “Welcome to Men’s Best. How can I help you?”

**Author's Note:**

> If you came from Tumblr, please go back there and leave some notes so I know you liked it!! <3 thank you for reading


End file.
